Skip to content
Vatican Observatory
  • About
    • Overview
    • Team
    • FAQ
  • Telescopes
    • Overview
    • Telescope Images
  • Tours
    • Castel Gandolfo
    • U.S.
  • Latest
    • Overview
    • Resources
    • Press
    • Audio
    • Video
    • Research
    • Authors
      • FAQs
    • Newsletter
    • Tucson Meteor Cameras
  • Podcast
  • Education
    • Overview
    • Resource Center
    • Image Gallery
    • Summer School
    • Books
    • Software
    • Additional Resources
    • ACME
  • Shop
  • Calendar
    • View our Event Calendar
  • Donate
    • Donate Now
    • Smart Ways to Give
    • Sacred Space Astronomy
      • View Content
    • Bequests / Trusts
    • The Foundation
      • Newsletters
      • Annual Reports
  • Press
    • VO in the News
    • Press Kit
  • Specola Vaticana
  • Contact
    • Contact
  • About
    • Overview
    • Team
    • FAQ
  • Telescopes
    • Overview
    • Telescope Images
  • Tours
    • Castel Gandolfo
    • U.S.
  • Latest
    • Overview
    • Resources
    • Press
    • Audio
    • Video
    • Research
    • Authors
      • FAQs
    • Newsletter
    • Tucson Meteor Cameras
  • Podcast
  • Education
    • Overview
    • Resource Center
    • Image Gallery
    • Summer School
    • Books
    • Software
    • Additional Resources
    • ACME
  • Shop
  • Calendar
    • View our Event Calendar
  • Donate
    • Donate Now
    • Smart Ways to Give
    • Sacred Space Astronomy
      • View Content
    • Bequests / Trusts
    • The Foundation
      • Newsletters
      • Annual Reports
  • Press
    • VO in the News
    • Press Kit
  • Specola Vaticana
  • Contact
    • Contact

A Saint, a Telescope, and a Man on the Moon

By Br. Robert Macke  |  14 Oct 2018

Share:
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share via Email
Pope Paul VI looking through a telescope Pope St. Paul VI looking at the moon through the Vatican Observatory’s Schmidt telescope, July 20, 1969.

Regular readers of The Catholic Astronomer are familiar with this photograph, found at the top of the blog’s home page. But who is the Pope in this photo, and why is he looking through a telescope?

It is Pope Paul VI, canonized a saint today along with Archbishop Oscar Romero and four others.  In his time as the Supreme Pontiff, he oversaw the completion of the Second Vatican Council, and he was the first Pope in modern times to travel abroad from the Vatican when addressed the United Nations assembly in New York in 1965.

The photo was taken on July 20, 1969 (technically, the morning of July 21 in Italy) at one of the telescope domes of the Vatican Observatory, located at the Pontifical villas in Castel Gandolfo.  The other man in the photo is Fr. Daniel O’Connell SJ,  the director of the Vatican Observatory at that time.  The telescope is a Schmidt with 98-cm primary mirror and a 240-cm focal length, and was the primary telescope of the Vatican Observatory from its installation in 1957 until the mid-1980s when light pollution made the location unserviceable for good astronomy.  It was used primarily for stellar spectroscopy and polarimetry, and for studies of the evolution of star clusters.

Pope Paul VI watching the moon landing Pope St. Paul VI watching the Apollo 11 moon landing on TV and giving an address and blessing to the astronauts.

Attentive readers will recognize the date of the photo.  It is, of course, the date of the landing of Apollo 11 on the surface of the moon.  Pope St. Paul VI made a visit to the telescopes of the Observatory for the occasion, and watched the moon landing on TV from inside the Schmidt dome.  From there, he also gave an address and blessing to the astronauts.  The embedded video below shows coverage of the event. (Skip to 4:20 for his address in English.)  He said, “Here, from His Observatory at Castel Gandolfo, near Rome, Pope Paul the Sixth is speaking to you astronauts. Honour, greetings and blessings to you, conquerors of the Moon, pale lamp of our nights and out dreams! Bring to her, with your living presence, the voice of the spirit, a hymn to God, our Creator and our Father. We are close to you, with our good wishes and with our prayers . Together with the whole Catholic Church, Pope Paul the Sixth salutes you.” (Text taken from the archived documents on the Vatican website.)

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkUaYrWuv3s?t=159s]

Share:
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share via Email

Sacred Space Astronomy

The Vatican Observatory’s official digital community and online magazine.

Become a Member

Recent Posts

Visit of Br. Guy Consolmagno S.J.

Pluscarden Abbey  |  19 May 2025  |  Press

The Skull of St. Thomas Aquinas, Realities, and Science

By Mr. Christopher Graney  |  17 May 2025  |  Sacred Space Astronomy

From the Backyard: Pope Leo XIV, Leo XIII, Rerum Novarum and AI

By Fr. James Kurzynski  |  12 May 2025

Ellerman Bomb

11 May 2025  |  Sacred Space Astronomy

Archives

      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
      • December
      • November
      • August
      • June
      • March
      • January
      • November
      • October
      • December
      • November
      • April
      • May
      • January
      • December
      • September
      • May
      • March
      • December
      • November
      • February

More Posts by
Br. Robert J. Macke, S.J.

Latest Batch of Named Asteroids Includes Three Jesuit Astronomers and a Pope

By Br. Robert Macke  |  11 Feb 2023  |  Sacred Space Astronomy

Half a Century since the Last Man on the Moon

By Br. Robert Macke, Rev. Matteo Galaverni  |  14 Dec 2022  |  Sacred Space Astronomy

Ideal-Gas Pycnometer for OSIRIS-REx

By Br. Robert Macke  |  17 Aug 2022  |  Sacred Space Astronomy

Vatty the Robot Telescope

By Br. Robert Macke  |  9 May 2022

Vatty the Robot Telescope

By Br. Robert Macke  |  7 May 2022  |  Sacred Space Astronomy

Macke MakerSpace and the Observatory on a Church

By Br. Robert Macke  |  4 May 2022

View More

Newsletter

Upcoming astronomical events, scientific breakthroughs, philosophical reflections… just a few reasons to subscribe to our newsletter!

Vatican Observatory
  • About
  • Telescopes
  • Tours
  • Latest
  • Podcast
  • Education
  • Shop
  • Calendar
  • Donate
  • Press
  • Specola Vaticana
  • Contact
Privacy Policy  |   Cookie Policy  |   Disclosure Statement  |   This website is supported by the Vatican Observatory Foundation

Podcast:

  • Apple Podcasts Listen onApple Podcasts
  • Spotify Listen onSpotify
  • Google Podcasts Listen onGoogle Podcasts
  • Stitcher Listen onStitcher
  • Amazon Alexa Listen onAmazon Alexa
  • TuneIn Listen onTuneIn
Made by Longbeard